Bathing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Bathing apparatus, particularly for physically handicapped persons, has a framework carrying a bather&#39;&#39;s seat and a pivotally mounted tub which can be swung between operative, i.e. bathing, and inoperative positions. In the operative position, the sitting bather is surrounded by the tub which can then be filled, while in the inoperative position the seat is freely accessible for the bather to sit on it or to leave it.

United States Patent Bill Feb. 15, 1972 [54] BATHING APPARATUS 633,398 9/1899 Straube ..4/6 X 2,030,687 2/1936 Davis ....4/I73 [721 gxfi j 'g f 2,541,263 2/1951 Mayo et a1. ..4/173 2,566,495 9/1951 Miyakawa... ..4/173 [22] Filed: Sept, 2, 1970 3,377,630 4/1968 Robare ..4/6 3,493,976 2/1970 Baker ...4/l73 [21] App1.No.: 68,925 3,562,821 2/1971 Queen ..4/175 30 Foreign Application Priority Data 'f Anis Attorney-Harris Zimmerman Sept. 5, 1969 Switzerland ..l3467/69 [57] ABSTRACT 52 U.S.CI.... ..4 173 4 176,128 69 i 51: 1111.01. ...A47k3/( 162 Bahmg aPPa'amS Pamcularly PhYSCaI'Y 'mdmPlml 58 Field of Search ..4/6, 173, 174, 175, 176, 168, Perms has a framewmk a bathe and a 4/4 185 S 173 S 185 128/369 pivotally mounted tub which can be swung between operative,

i.e. bathing, and inoperative positions. In the operative position, the sitting bather is surrounded by the tub which can then [56] References Clted be filled, while in the inoperative position the seat is freely ac- UNITED STATES PATENTS cessible for the bather to sit on it or to leave it.

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sum 3 or 3 INVENTOR. H u c, o B l L L BATHING APPARATUS The present invention concerns bathing apparatus that is intended particularly, though not exclusively, for physically handicapped persons.

Elderly people and invalids often have great difficulty in entering a normal bath tub, even when someone is available to assist them. While there are bathtubs that are provided with a door along one wall to make entering and leaving the bath much easier, the technical measures required adequately to seal the closed doors are relatively complicated and correspondingly expensive, and there is the additional risk that the seals deteriorate with time to make the bathing equipment useless in practice or require relatively expensive repairs.

The present invention seeks to solve the problem in an alternative manner and to provide bathing equipment with a tublike vessel for accommodating bath liquid and a seat for at least one bather such that the bather can reach and leave the seat relatively easily and that the tublike vessel does not need a door with its necessary seals.

According to the present invention, there is provided bathing apparatus, particularly for physically handicapped persons, including a tublike vessel for containing bath liquid, a seal dimensioned to accommodate at least one bather, and rigidly suspended from at least one weight carrying part extending upwards from a support arrangement, said tublike vessel being at least partly mounted on the support arrangement so as to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis which extends at a level higher than the seat surface to allow a part of the vessel to move underneath the seat, said tublike vessel being pivotally movable between an operative position in which the seat is located inside the vessel and an inoperative position in which the seat is freely accessible horizontally through the said vessel without hindrance.

The bathing apparatus as described below and defined above can be used by physically handicapped persons in the following manner. Initially, the tublike vessel is pivoted into its inoperative position while empty, the bather then sits down on the freely accessible seat, subsequently the vessel is pivoted into the bathing position about the seat underneath with the person sitting in it, if desired by the person assisting the bather, and the vessel is finally filled with bath liquid. At the end of bathing the bath contents are discharged through a drain close to the lowest point of the vessel and the vessel is then pivoted back into its starting position, whereupon the bather can leave the seat without being noticeably hindered by the walls ofthe vessel.

The invention is described, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in part diagrammatic form:

FIG. I shows a first embodiment of the bathing apparatus of this invention in side elevation, its tublike vessel being shown in the bathing position by means of continuous lines and in an inoperative position by chain lines;

FIG. 2 is a view of the bathing apparatus of FIG. 1, but looking from the left-hand side thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, but showing a second embodiment of the bathing apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows the bathing apparatus of FIG. 3 and viewed from the left in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a partial view of a further embodiment, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3;

' FIG. 6 is a part view, taken from the left in FIG. 5, of the apparatus of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 shows a still further preferred embodiment of bathing apparatus according to this invention in side elevation, with its tublike vessel being once more shown in the bathing position by means of continuous lines and in an inoperative position by means of chain lines.

Referring to the first preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bathing apparatus has a tublike vessel 10 constructed as a rigid unit and is made from, e.g., glass fiber reinforced plastics. The vessel 10 is open at the top and has an edge 11 which, where appropriate, can be reinforced by flanging (not shown). Two bearing lugs 12 are located on the lefthand outer wall of the vessel 10 in FIG. 1 through which passes a circular-section weight-carrying shaft 13. This shaft 13 is a part of a support framework 14 resting on the floor 15 of the room containing the bathing apparatus. The vessel I0 can be pivoted about a horizontal pivot axis 16 coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the weight-carrying shaft 13, as will be explained further below. A locking device 17, which is shown only in diagrammatic form, is fitted to the support framework 14 and with whose aid the vessel 10 can be selectively locked in the operative or bathing position shown by means of the continuous lines or in an inoperative position 10 shown in FIG. 1 by means of chain lines.

The tublike vessel 10 has two mutually parallel or approximately parallel side walls 18 and I9, relative to which the pivot axis 16 extends approximately perpendicularly. The remaining boundary walls of the vessel 10 are all arranged substantially parallel to the pivot axis 16 and lie within an imaginary cylinder (not shown), whose longitudinal axis coincides with the pivot axis 16 and whose radius is equal to the distance of the pivot axis from the floor.

The support arrangement 14 includes two U-shaped side parts each having a central piece 20 supported on the floor I5 and two limbs 21 and 22 projecting upwards from the central piece, as is shown clearly in FIG. 1. The respective first limbs 21 of the two U-shaped side parts carry the shaft 13 at their top, while the other limbs 22 are connected with one another at their top by a cross beam 23, which by means of weight-carrying parts or struts 24 carries a seat 25 for the bather. The struts 24 extend upwardly from the seat surface 26 of the seat 25 to above the edge 11 of the vessel 10 pivoted into the operating position, so that the seat 25 is rigidly suspended from the support framework 14 and is located in the interior of the vessel 10 between the latters edge 11 and its lowest point 27. A backrest 28 for the bather is arranged on the struts 24. The seating surface 26 and the backrest 28 may be formed from a single piece of material. The U-shaped side parts 20. 21, 22 of the support arrangement 14 may be linked by a further crosspiece 29, provided this does not impair the pivotability of the vessel.

Close to its lowest point the vessel 10 has a drain or discharge connection 30 which can be closed by a sealing element (not shown) and is connected to a liquid waste drain via a movable hose (not shown). The sealing element may be a plug or the like inserted into the discharge connection of the vessel 10 from the inside.

The mode of working and action of the above-described bathing apparatus is as follows:

At the outset the still empty vessel is pivoted into the broken line position 10' as in FIG. 1 and locked in this position with the locking arrangement 17. The seat 25 is now freely accessible from two sides of the bathing apparatus in the horizontal direction, so that the bather can sit down in the seat 25 by entering through the vessel 10 or the support framework arrangement 14 without difficulty. After the bather has sat down in the seat 25, looking towards the left in FIG. 1, the vessel 10 is unlocked by actuating the locking mechanism 17 and is pivoted into the continuous-line bathing position. During this movement a part of the vessel 10 moves underneath the seat 25 and the person sitting in it without disturbing the sitter. All that may be necessary is for the person sitting on the seat 25 to lift his or her feet a little until the vessel 10 has reached its operating position and can then rest them on the floor of the vessel. After the vessel 10 has been locked in the bathing position by means of the locking mechanism 17 and a check has been made to see that the discharge connection 30 is closed, water is filled into the vessel 10 from above, suitably with the aid of a length of hose. If the bathing apparatus is constructed in a suitable manner, then the bath liquid can be made to reach to the shoulders of the bather.

At the end of the bathing period, the drain connection 30 is opened to allow the bath liquid to discharge from the vessel 10. After this has taken place, the empty vessel is pivoted back into and locked in the chain line position 10' by means of the locking mechanism 17. The bather can then leave the seat 25 without hindrance by way of the vessel 10 or the support framework arrangement 14.

A second preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from the embodiment that has just been described in the following details. The tublike vessel 10 extends on either side of the pivot axis 16, i.e., to the left and right ofit in FIG. 3, and so it would be unsuitable to arrange a continuous shaft similar to the shaft 13 in the first example along the pivot axis. For this reason the mutually approximately parallel sidewalls 18 and 19 of the vessel 10 each have a short shaft end which projects outwards and whose longitudinal axis coincides with the pivot axis 16 of the vessel 10.

These short shaft ends 31 engage in corresponding bearing bores arranged at the respective upper ends of a tubular section 32. The tubular sections 32 are guided on the end portions of the arms 21 of the U-shaped side portions 20, 21, 22 of the support assembly 14 to be able to slide in telescopic fashion, and each contains a compression spring 33 which tends to maintain the relevant tubular section 32 in a positively located upper position. It is evident that with this arrangement the bearings defining the pivot axis 16 of the vessel 10 can move within certain limits in an approximately vertical direction and are supported on the arms 21 of the support assembly 14 via the springs 33. The springs 33 are designed such that they are able to carry the vessel 10 while it is empty, but when the vessel is about half full of bath liquid they are compressed elastically until the lowest point 27 of the vessel comes to rest on the floor 15.

From the seat 25, weight-carrying parts or struts 34 extend downwardly to a footrest 35 located at a relatively small distance above the lowest point 27 of the vessel 10 pivoted into the operative position. The footrest 35 is secured by being suspended solely by the struts 34, so that on pivoting of the vessel 10 about the pivot axis 16 parts of the vessel can be moved without hindrance underneath the footrest 35. Suitably, the pivot axis 16 is approximately equally spaced from the backrest 28 and from the footrest 35.

In other respects, this embodiment is constructed essentially in the same manner as the first embodiment and the mode of use and action also do not differ fundamentally from those of the first embodiment. It should merely be noted that the bather can support his or her feet conveniently on the footrest 35 and thus need not lift them during pivoting of the vessel 10. A further characteristic feature is that during filling of the bath liquid the vessel 10 descends to come to rest on the floor, because the springs 33 in the telescopically movable tubular sections 32 are unable to support the weight of the bath full of liquid. The resting of the filled vessel 10 on the floor achieves the advantage that the shaft ends 31 and the associated bearing bores of the tubular pieces 32 need not be dimensioned so as to support the entire weight of the full vessel but need merely carry the empty vessel in a somewhat elevated position in order to enable it to be pivoted about the pivot axis 16 without the vessel knocking against the floor 15. The vessel 10, which, unlike in the first embodiment, extends beyond the pivot axis 16, allows the bather more freedom of movement, particularly for his arms.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a third embodiment of this invention, which is a variant of the second embodiment just described. The vessel 10 is constructed in the same way and is once again provided with two laterally projecting short shaft ends 31. However here the shaft ends engage in a respective longitudinal slot 36 of a bearing section 37 provided on the corresponding arm 21 of the support arrangement 14. A compression spring 38 on which the shaft end 31 is supported (via an intermediate plate 39 slidable in the longitudinal slot 36) is located in the longitudinal slot 36. When the vessel 10 is empty, the springs 38 can push the shaft ends 31 against the upper end of the longitudinal slots 36, while when the vessel 10 is at least partly filled the springs 38 are resiliently compressed and the pivot axis 16 of the vessel 10 thus descends until the lowest point 27 of the vessel comes to rest on the floor 15.

The two bearing pieces 37 are in addition connected by a stirrup 40 which rises above the edge 11 of the vessel 10 when the latter is in the operative position (continuous line position). The bather can use the stirrup as a handgrip, both during bathing and for taking and leaving his or her seat, once the vessel has been pivoted into the chain lih'eposition 10. The stirrup 40 is constructed such that it does not hinder the pivoting of the vessel 10.

A further preferred embodiment of the bathing apparatus of this invention shown in FIG. 7 differs in its construction from the above-described embodiments in that the pivot axis 16 and the weight-carrying parts or struts 24 for the seat 25 are arranged on the same side of the tublike vessel 10 and not on opposite sides of it. The pivot axis 16 extends not far from the upper end of the backrest 28 arranged on the weight-carrying parts. As a result, the support framework or arrangement 114 may be of smaller construction, as is revealed in FIG. 7. The pivot axis 16, similarly to its position in the first embodiment, extends along the outside of one wall of the vessel 10 so as to constitute a continuous weight-carrying shaft from which the vessel is pivotably suspended. The support arrangement 114 has a locking mechanism 117 for locking the vessel 10 selectively in its operating position as shown by the continuous line or in the position 10' shown by the chain lines. The locking mechanism 117 is suitably constructed such that the person assisting the bather can engage and disengage it by foot actuation.

The mode of use and action is the same as in the previously described embodiments. When the vessel 10 is pivoted into the position 10' shown by the chain lines, the seat 25 is even more readily accessible than in the preceding embodiments. In particular, the seat in the embodiment according to FIG. 7 can also be occupied from the front, i.e., from the right-hand side in FIG. 7, and can be vacated by the same route.

Self-evidently, numerous variants of the described embodiments are possible. For example, the seat 25 may in addition be provided with ann rests, which may be folded down in order not to interfere with sitting down and leaving of the seat. Furthermore, if desired, it is possible to provide a motor drive for the pivoting of the vessel 10 and to arrange suitable switch buttons for controlling the motor such that they can be operated by the bather himself or herself and thus obviate the need for an assistant. The drive motor may be in effective communication with the vessel via a self-locking worm gear train. In such a case special locking elements for locking the vessel in its end positions are no longer required.

In addition the vessel 10 and the seat 25 may be widened in a direction parallel to the pivot axis 16 such that two or more persons can bathe simultaneously. Likewise, it is feasible to construct the vessel to be symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane containing the pivot axis 16 (when it is in the operational position) and to arrange two seats symmetrically on either side of the said plane. The back rests of the two seats may be placed either facing towards or away from one another. With this symmetrical construction of the vessel the arrangement is suitably made such that the empty vessel can be pivoted from its operational position by respectively about in either sense of rotation, so that first one and then the other seat can be left without hindrance.

Instead of being constructed as a rigid unit, the vessel can, where appropriate, be constructed wholly or partly as a foldable bath that can be folded in the manner of an accordion bellows arrangement, with one end of the vessel fixed while the opposite end can be pivoted about the pivot axis. Preferably, such an accordion-type bath is made of a plastics material.

Finally, the support arrangement that carries the vesseldefining pivot axis bearings and the seat need not in every case be constructed in the manner of a framework. It is possible, alternatively, to form a suitable support arrangement in the form of walls or from concrete or to use parts of a building as the support arrangement. For example, the weight-carrying parts 24 of the seat 25 and the back rest 28 may be secured to a wall of a building, while the bearings for the pivotable suspension of the vessel may be secured by suspending from the ceiling ofa room by means ofsupports.

As already mentioned, the various above-described preferred embodiments of the bathing apparatus according to this invention display the primary advantage that the bather can occupy and leave his or her intended seat in a horizontal direction without suffering any appreciable interference from the walls of the tublike vessel for the bath liquid. For this reason, the bathing apparatus is very suitable for use especially by physically handicapped persons. Further advantages of the described bathing apparatus are: (a) it can be straightforwardly installed and used in private houses, residential institutions, hospitals, etc., (b) it requires relatively little space, (c) relatively little bath liquid is needed to fill the vessel although the bather can be covered with the bath liquid up to his or her shoulders, a facet that is especially significant for treatments requiring expensive additives, (d) the bathing apparatus is relatively simple to construct and correspondingly cheap to produce, and (e) it is relatively easy to transport.

While in the described and illustrated preferred embodiments the locking mechanisms 17 or 117 are fitted for the purpose of locking the vessel 10 to the support arrangements 14 or 114 respectively, it is possible in an alternative embodiment to fit a corresponding locking mechanism to the vessel 10, so that in collaboration with matching counterpieces on the support arrangement it can lock the vessel in the operational position and in the inoperative position 10. Thus, in the representation according to FIG. I the locking mechanism may be located in e.g., the upper right-hand corner of the side wall 19. Suitably, the locking mechanism is constructed to be selflocking in every case, so that it need be operated only for unlocking purposes.

[claims 1. Bathing apparatus, particularly for physically handicapped persons, including a tublike vessel for containing bath liquid, a seat dimensioned to accommodate at least one bather, a support arrangement, at least one weight-carrying part extending upwardly from the support arrangement, the seat being rigidly suspended from said at least one weight-carrying part, the said tublike vessel being at least partly mounted on the support arrangement to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis extending at a level higher than the seat surface to allow a part of the said tublike vessel to move underneath the seat, said tublike vessel being pivotally movable between an operative position in which the seat is located inside the said tublike vessel and an inoperative position in which the seat is freely accessible horizontally through the said tublike vessel without hindrance.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a back rest for the seat is carried by the or each said weight-carrying part.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the pivot axis of the said vessel is arranged on one side of the seat remote from the backrest.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim I in which a footrest for the feet of the bather is connected with the seat and is arranged such that the vessel can move underneath the footrest during its pivoting movement.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the pivot axis is approximately equidistant from the backrest and the footrest.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim I in which the vessel extends on either side of the pivot axis, there being two relatively short coaxial shaft ends, one on each side, which solely mount said vessel on the said support arrangement.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which a stirrup is provided on the support arrangement to connect the bearing locations of the two shaft ends, which stirrup can be used by the bather as a handgrip and which is elevated above the top edge of the said vessel in the latters operative position.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivot axis of the vessel extends along the outside of one wall of the said ves- Se].

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the pivot axis of the said vessel and the said back rest are arranged on the same side of the seat.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there are at least two approximately parallel sidewalls of said vessel, relative to which sidewalls the pivot axis extends approximately perpendicularly, while the remaining boundaries of the said vessel have wall portions relative to which the pivot axis'is at least approximately parallel.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which bearings define the pivot axis of the vessel, said bearings being movable to a limited extent in the vertical direction, springs on the support arrangement being provided to support said bearings, the springs being designed such that they can carry the vessel while it is empty, but when the said vessel is partly filled with bath liquid they are deformed resiliently until the said vessel comes to rest on the floor of the room in which the apparatus is located.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the support arrangement is constituted by a frame that has a U-shaped portion on at least one end of the pivot axis of the said vessel, there being a central piece of the frame that extends along the bottom and two arms that carry the upper end of the said at least one weight-carrying part for the seat and for the bearings for the pivot axis of the said vessel.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a locking mechanism is provided for locking the said vessel in the operative position and the said inoperative position.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the said vessel is constructed as a rigid unit and can be pivoted as a whole about the pivot axis.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the said vessel is constructed at least in part as a folding bath tub, with one end section of the vessel being fixed and the opposite end section of the vessel being capable of pivoting about the pivot axis. 

1. Bathing apparatus, particularly for physically handicapped persons, including a tublike vessel for containing bath liquid, a seat dimensioned to accommodate at least one bather, a support arrangement, at least one weight-carrying part extending upwardly from the support arrangement, the seat being rigidly suspended from said at least one weight-carrying part, the said tublike vessel being at least partly mounted on the support arrangement to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis extending at a level higher than the seat surface to allow a part of the said tublike vessel to move underneath the seat, said tublike vessel being pivotally movable between an operative position in which the seat is located inside the said tublike vessel and an inoperative position in which the seat is freely accessible horizontally through the said tublike vessel without hindrance.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a back rest for the seat is carried by the or each said weight-carrying part.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the pivot axis of the said vessel is arranged on one side of the seat remote from the backrest.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a footrest for the feet of the bather is connected with the seat and is arranged such that the vessel can move underneath the footrest during its pivoting movement.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the pivot axis is approximately equidistant from the backrest and the footrest.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the vessel extends on either side of the pivot axis, there being two relatively short coaxial shaft ends, one on each side, which solely mount said vessel on the said support arrangement.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which a stirrup is provided on the support arrangement to connect the bearing locations of the two shaft ends, which stirrup can be used by the bather as a handgrip and which is elevated above the top edge of the said vessel in the latter''s operative position.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivot axis of the vessel extends along the outside of one wall of the said vessel.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the pivot axis of the said vessel and the said back rest are arranged on the same side of the seat.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which there are at least two approximately parallel sidewalls of said vessel, relative to which sidewalls the pivot axis extends approximately perpendicularly, while the remaining boundaries of the said vessel have wall portions relative to which the pivot axis is at least approximately parallel.
 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which bearings define the pivot axis of the vessel, said bearings being movable to a limited extent in the vertical direction, springs on the support arrangement being provided to support said bearings, the springs being designed such that they can carry the vessel while it is empty, but when the said vessel is partly filled with bath liquid they are deformed resiliently until the said vessel comes to rest on the floor of the room in which the apparatus is located.
 12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the support arrangement is constituted by a frame that has a U-shaped portion on at least one end of the pivot axis of the said vessel, there being a central piece of the frame that extends along the bottom and two arms that carry the upper end of the said at least one weight-carrying part for the seat and for the bearings for the pivot axis of the said vessel.
 13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which a locking mechanism is provided for locking the said vessel in the operative position and the said inoperative position.
 14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the said vessel is constructed as a rigid unit and can be pivoted as a whole about the pivot axis.
 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the said vessel is constructed at least in part as a folding bath tub, with one end section of the vessel being fixed and the opposite end section of the vessel being capable of pivoting about the pivot axis. 